News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-01-13
PROBABLY THEY WERE LYNCHED.
The Disappearance of tho Famous Bender
Family n Matter of COMMENT.

| TFrom the Kansas City Times.l
What has become of the Benders, the
| Montgomery county family of murder
ers The question has often been asked,
and all the attempts to answer it have
so far been unsuccessful. Long ago their
capture was given up, and the belief
| that they were caught and summarily
dealt with before they had an opportuni-
| ty to escape from the immediate vicinity
OF their crimes has gradually come to be
| accepted. In view of this fact the fol
lowing incident related by prominent
attorney of this place may be of interest:
That gentleman was engaged in some
important egal business in Montgomery
county. Having cause to visit Indepen
dence, and finding that he could reach
there and accomplish his purpose to bet
ter advantage by going across the coun-
try in carriage, he, accompanied by
another gent eman, started that way. 1t
so happened that they passed within a
short distance of the Bender place, and
his companion was pointing out the 10
cation and explaining where the house
stood and where the grave yard was To-
Gated in which the inhuman brutes buried
their victims. He had been talking some
time, and seemed familiar with all the
details, when the attorney abruptly ask
ed, breaking in on the other party while
speaking:
"What became of the Bender fam
lily 2"
The speaker stopped and eyed him for
the space of ten seconds without saying
word. He then answered by asking
another question:
"Who are you, and where are you
from?"
The mans manner was rather suspi-
cious. but the attorney having satisfied
him as to his identity and business, he
very soon became communicative again,
and went on to explain that when the
murder of Col. York took place he was
living within two miles of the Bender
farm, and had been present when the
bloody cellar was discovered, and after
ward when the private graveyard had
been found and the various victims of
this horrible butchery were dug up amid
the curses and threats of the angry mob
Ee still became more confidential and
gave the following account of their dis
appearance.
Not one of the Bender family is alive
had a chance to go but little way from
the scene of their misdeeds. and given
quick and sure justice. John and the
old man and woman were hung, begging
ike towards for their lives. Kate fought,
and spite all the efforts of the party
who took them, they could not hang her,
and at last one of them drew a revolver
and shot her, killing her on the spot.
She was game however, to the very last.
biting, scratching, and kicking her as
sailants in such a furious manner that it
was impossible 10 do anything but to kill
her like cog She never begged or
seemed to exhibit any concern for what
she had done, or what was going to be
done with her. When she found what
her captors were going to do, she seized
the first thing of which she could get
hold, and made an attack on her nearest
pursuer and kept it up till she was kill
ed. The Others, however, begged for |
life in the most alb JcCt manner, especial |
ly the old man, whose piteous cries were
only cut short by the rope rs it choked
the wind out of him. Their bodies are
in the Indian Territory and some day
people may know where they are, but
not for the present"
The stranger then became silent, and
did not seem inclined to give any fur
ther particulars. From facts afterward
learned the nth of the story can be de-
pended on, or at least so thought the at.
torney to whom it was related. The
fact, too, that Col. York went down
when his brother was killed, and, after
having several conferences with the peo-
pie in the neighborhood, has never since
made any endeavors to find the murder
ers Of his brother, adds to the presump-
tion that he then learned the fate of the
parties in question, and consequently
knows that it is no use to search for
them.